emeffkay

Speaking from a less experienced PoV here as I'm only on my first playthrough (on hard) but I remember how much of a cluster**** the pathfinding in Baldur's Gate and IWD could be and while Pillars isn't 100% issue free, I find the slow mode to be immensely useful - that and remembering to toggle AI on/off when necessary. Not perfect solutions but they do tend to make the going a little easier. Doesn't remove the tedium of micro'ing each and every encounter. That said, I love the engagement system. Again I'm on my first playthrough but it makes a world of difference when it comes to positioning my two ciphers for beam carnage.

This is such a cool idea. Would also be on board with pets providing party buffs but obviously devs would run into balancing issues as with anything else. Pet dialogue (a la familiars in baldur's gate) and quests would also be welcome. Imagine if there were other miniature giant cosmic space pets that give players a tremendous item or buff when they are all collected...

Couldn't agree more. I wasn't an original backer but had been following the game for years. When I finally got it about a month ago and started it up knowing close to nothing about the plot, I was immediately drawn to the cipher class. There was something about the class description that screamed "narrative" to me, and considering the pedigree of Obsidian's devs and writers, it is a serious consideration to make. Being able to respec your class skills at will is also such a huge deal for a chronic reroller like myself. I find any reason (plot, mechanics, day of the week) to reroll classes and builds and basically start the story over again, but I must be almost a month into this first time playthrough and haven't restarted the game yet!

Working through my first playthrough on Hard. Have to say as an IE vet, Hard reminds me a lot of mid-late stage BG2/ToB and late IWD - just enough mobs to make things difficult but not quite so tough as I can't re-evaluate what I'm doing wrong, usually it's because I'm favoring direct damage over affliction debuffs. While yes, there are some abilities that tend to be overpowered (full disclosure: looking at you ectoplasmic echo - which I'm loving running with my guncipher and GM), most of the game mechanics are beautifully balanced. I just got to act 3 last night, and will graduate up to Paths of the Damned for a bit. I am, however, also thinking of saving a PotD run for my next playthrough, probably with a druid or a rogue. Just want to take this opportunity to say I am LOVING this game.